H1 coffee exports brew 8% growth

BANGALORE: Coffee exports for the first half (H1) of the current fiscal year of 2008-09 are up by 8% in quantum and a whopping 38% in value.

Between April 1 and September 30 2008, shipment-permits were issued for a quantum of 114,815 tonnes (106,244 for the corresponding period of the previous period). The value of H1 exports for this fiscal was $309 mn ($224 mn).

Coffee Board chairman GV Krishna Rau told ET here on Wednesday that, in rupee-terms, there was a 37% increase. The value of H1 exports for this fiscal was Rs 1,290 crore (Rs 938 crore). The unit-value realisation for H1 of this fiscal was Rs 112,430, a 27% increase over the per-tonne realisation of Rs 88,140 for H1 of the previous fiscal.

Export earnings for this entire fiscal were, he said, expected to surpass the previous fiscal���s record of $502 mn, equivalent to Rs 2,945 crore.

The top seven markets for Indian coffee were Italy, Russia, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Finland and Ukraine, in that order. There was a perceptible increase in exports to Jordan and Singapore.

For H1 of this fiscal, General Commodities continued to be the top Indian exporter, followed by Olam Exports, Tata Coffee, Allanasons, and CCL Products (India), in that order.